Then the general saw that the Hopebreaker was among them, and he almost cursed aloud. Still clutching the plaque tightly, he climbed onto the landship’s hull and hopped inside. He started it up and sped up the ramp to the next level of the submarine, and then the next, with the water rising behind him, until he reached the top deck, when the engine conked out. Too much water had already gotten inside.
If he did not care so much about that vehicle, he might have banged his fist upon the hull. Instead, he got up, popped his head through the hatch and glanced about until he saw Alakovi midway up the ramp leading to the airship. “Is this everything?” Rommond shouted up to her.
“That’s all we can get,” Alakovi roared back.
“Rommond!” Taberah called. She was helping the last of the survivors off the submarine.
He turned to her.
“The bomb,” she said.
He looked down at the sinking vessel. “We’ll have to leave it.”
“Are you sure?”
He nodded solemnly. “It’s probably for the best. Now get on!”
Taberah joined Jacob and the last of the crew who raced up the ramp to the airship. Rommond ducked inside the Hopebreaker and tried to start it up again. He felt it lunge, and he felt the submarine begin to sink more quickly beneath him. He took a deep breath, and hoped he would not have to hold it for eternity.
* * *
The Lifemaker was sinking fast, and many were fearful that the airship, which was still tethered to it, would go down with it. All eyes were on the Hopebreaker, but while some minds were with Rommond, many were focused on the greater threat to them all.
“Cut the ropes!” Boulder boomed outside.
“Not yet!” Taberah shouted back, but already one was frayed. “Give him a minute!”
Jacob bit his lip and shook his head. Mudro’s magic was doing its trick, but Jacob’s eyes were still dreadfully alert, so much so that he thought he could see every little drop of water that crept its way towards the Hopebreaker. He’s not going to make it, he thought. Whistler dug his fingers into his arm.
The stern of the Lifemaker dipped below the waves, and the Hopebreaker slid down towards the back of the vessel, catching in a metal beam, the only obstacle keeping it from the rising waters. The submarine continued to dip, and the bow rose into the air, preparing it for its vertical plunge. It was clear that Rommond was struggling to get the landship moving. The tracks appeared to be jammed. He tried them forward, then reverse, and each time they caught. Each locked tread was another second closer to a grave beneath the sea.
“He should get out,” Jacob said. “Swim for it, even. That landship will be like a leaden weight in the water. Why doesn’t he just abandon it?”
“That was the last vehicle Brooklyn designed,” Taberah explained. “He’s not going to give it up that easily.” She paused, as if she wished he would. “That’s his pride and joy.”
“It could also be his death.”
Suddenly the treads clicked into place, and the Hopebreaker rolled slowly away from the metal beam. Yet the more it went, the more the submarine turned upright. The more the tracks struggled to keep grip, the more Rommond struggled to get the landship up towards the ramp, and the more everyone else struggled to keep watching.
“Come on, Rommond!” Taberah called, as if her cheer would help.
Come on, Jacob thought, as if that would help either.
The Hopebreaker pushed forward even more, and climbed the now forty-degree slope, but it still was not the ramp Rommond needed to climb if he was to get out to safety. The waters rose behind the landship, creeping closer to it, reaching out for one more victim. Rommond turned the vehicle sharply, and the tracks were now partly submerged. They spun like crazy, spraying water behind them, but there was less traction now, and the landship was more difficult to control.
“I thought the captain goes down with the ship,” Soasa said.
Taberah glared at her. “He’s not the captain.”
You can do it, Rommond, Jacob thought, even as others were saying it out loud. People were cheering and shouting, and many were grimacing and averting their gaze.
The Lifemaker was now at fifty degrees, and it was dipping deeper and turning sharper. The Hopebreaker began to slide back down, and the waters were rising up around it, covering the treads entirely, almost making it a submarine of its own. But it was not designed to float.
The landship exhaled a tremendous amount of smoke, and it looked as though the very hull was sweating steam. How Rommond fared inside was anyone’s guess, but they knew that he was giving it his all. They just hoped he would not have to give his life as well.
As the Lifemaker sank more rapidly, and the waters rose more quickly, the Hopebreaker powered through the water, sending the spray behind it, travelled precariously towards the airship, and thundered up the ramp.
“The ropes!” Boulder shouted. He sliced at the one nearest him.
“No!” Taberah cried.
The airship tried more earnestly to take to the skies, careening to one side and tugging on the remaining ties. The ramp began to come loose beneath it, and the Hopebreaker was still not fully up. The crew cried out in horror as the metal supports gave way, and as the wood snapped, and as the bolts abandoned ship. The landship rocked and tilted, and people bit their lips and closed their eyes. Then it continued on as the ramp collapsed beneath it, and entered the vehicle bay just in time as the last of the supports gave way.
The cheer that followed would have woke the gods. The remaining ropes were snapped, and the cheers died down into a depressing silence as the Lifemaker turned fully upright and sank deep beneath the waves. Some thought of Alson and her noble sacrifice. Some thought of Cala, and her ignoble deeds. Others thought of what might have been, how many might have died, how many were now saved. Others yet thought that their fabled refuge, that second home beneath the sea, was now gone. They hoped this third home within the clouds would bring them more luck, and less loss of life.
Rommond emerged from the Hopebreaker to applause, but he was not smiling. More than any, he clearly felt the loss of the Lifemaker, and those who had died aboard it. He did not stop their cheers, but he did not celebrate, and he held his cap to his chest, as if to hide the feelings of his heart.
He marched to his quarters and closed the door to the fanfare outside, and he did not come out again for hours. Some wondered if he was weeping. Some thought that maybe he was deep in prayer. Jacob mused that he was likely taking a well-deserved nap.
When the general came out again later that day, when the sun began to dip like a sinking vessel of its own, he climbed up to the highest part of the airship to get a better view. He took out an eyeglass and pointed it north-west, where he saw the plume of dark smoke that marked the city of Blackout.
“So, what’s this one called then?” Jacob shouted up to him.
“It’s what the people of Blackout will call it,” Rommond said, climbing back down.
“What, Big Balloon?”
“No,” the general said with a sigh. “It’s what they will call it when we take back that city.”
Rommond turned to Taberah, who looked as determined as ever.
“The Skyshaker.”
The next book in the series, Skyshaker, is out now. Join the airship's maiden journey!
For updates about new releases, as well as exclusive promotions, sign up for the author's VIP mailing list by clicking here.
Have you checked out the Children of Telm series? You can find all of Dean F. Wilson's books here:
US: http://www.amazon.com/Dean-F.-Wilson/e/B007O05FEU/
UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dean-F.-Wilson/e/B007O05FEU/
A final message from Dean:
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed the story so far. Before you go, I'd like to ask you a small favour: if you liked what you read, please post a review on Amazon. Short and sweet is perfect. Reviews are essential to a book's success, and I need as many of them as possible
to help other readers find Lifemaker. Your review is really appreciated. Thanks! :)
Lifemaker: A Steampunk Dystopian Fantasy (The Great Iron War, Book 2) Page 18
